


Half the battle

by canadino



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, Polygamy, Taichi is the common denominator
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-01-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:39:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22417090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canadino/pseuds/canadino
Summary: Taichi finds himself in the throes of popularity and it's not what he expected.
Relationships: Nanao Taichi/Rurikawa Yuki/Sumeragi Tenma
Comments: 2
Kudos: 73





	Half the battle

“Wait.” Tenma, who usually took himself very seriously, was not smiling, and his hand was clasped around Taichi’s wrist. They were just outside the theater, almost at the dorms. Taichi could hear and feel his stomach growling, trained now to expect a tasty after-school snack from one of the adults in the company (he preferred Omi’s afternoon snacks, but that was roommate bias and in the end all food was good). He also felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. If Tenma was stopping him, looking troubled and out of sorts, something bad must have happened. But Taichi had walked with him from school all the way home, careful to make enough noise to ward off bad spirits and jealous boys and girls chasing fame. Digging in his heels, he faced Tenma bravely. “I have something I want to tell you. Ugh, it’s probably not the right time, but it’s been bothering me for a while.” 

Tenma could have gone to one of his seniors in his troupe, or to the older boys who knew more of the world, or even to the adults or the director. But Tenma had chosen him to share his worries with. “Tell me, Ten-chan,” Taichi insisted, folding his hands between his own. “I promise I’ll do my best to make it better.” 

“Hmph. Well, you asked for it. I like you, Taichi. I-I want us to...to date…” Tenma’s face was as bright as his hair. He was staring holes into the ground. Taichi was a little shorter, so he could see Tenma’s expression, so carefully arranged it almost felt more desperate. 

“Huh?”

“Don’t...don’t make me repeat it.” 

Taichi was speechless. At that moment, Yuki called out to them from behind Tenma, holding his school bag and frowning with a bad attitude. “What on earth are you guys yowling about outside of the theater? The dog I expected...well, I guess the fraud I should have expected too.” He stopped, looking slowly from Tenma to Taichi. Tenma had presently begun doing his best statuette impression. Taichi couldn’t even tell if he was blinking. Yuki looked down at their hands, almost connected, and he recoiled. “Hey! You hack, I can’t believe you!”

“What?” If the Summer Troupe had somehow learned how to read minds, Banri ought to be told so they could begin training to do the same. How Yuki could have figured out Tenma had just confessed based on wordless body language alone was stunning. At the same time as Yuki suddenly latched onto his arm, clinging to him like how he’d absentmindedly daydreamed of once when he let his thoughts run away with him, he remembered they were roommates. He had never once even thought about discussing his romantic prospects seriously with Omi before. Finally, his mind caught up with his body, several frames behind. “O-oh! Yuki-chan, you’re...you’re holding my arm?!”

“You think you can launch an attack when I’m not around? That kind of underhanded move won’t work.” Yuki turned on him, a frown on his brows and his lips pursed almost like a pout. “After all...it’s me you like, isn’t it?”

“H-huh? What’s that got to do with this?” Taichi was starting to grow into his own as a lead, but it was still intimidating to be caught in the crosshairs of two people with strong presence. Somehow, he had started with holding Tenma’s hand but now Tenma was clasping his hand tightly like he might fly away. Yuki, never one to enjoy physical affection in the presence of others, had his arm wrapped around Taichi’s other arm like a roll of precious fabric. “This...this is so sudden, I don’t know--”

“You’re going to make me say it, huh? I thought by now you’d understand but I guess hours of sewing an outfit doesn’t make.” Tenma was frowning now. “Stupid dog...I wouldn’t let just anyone into my side of the room, especially as late at night as you sometimes are...get it already! I maybe have a crush on you, idiot!”

He’d done enough etudes to know when he was given a cue. Tenma and Yuki were boring into him, staring expectantly with unwavering gazes. Well, how was he supposed to respond! Muku was the one with the most (fictional) expertise in love confessions. The magazines had only told him the best places to confess - and in front of the theater where he performed in was not one of them - and the best places to go on dates. He supposed the most reasonable thing to do was respond accordingly. “Well...huh...Ten-chan, you know I think you’re pretty cool sometimes and you’re someone I’m chasing to beat and...Y-Yuki-chan, you can be a little intimidating but you’re dependable and c-cute, of course...so...I like you guys too?”

Yuki and Tenma exchanged glances. “He’s not that stupid, is he?” Yuki sighed. 

“I hope not...we’re in some classes together so what does that make me…”

“Dog,” Yuki said, drawing Taichi’s attention back. “I’ll say it again just so it’s very clear. The hack and I aren’t saying that we just like you as platonic friends. We like you, get it? Romantically, so we want to spend time with you and do things friends don’t do, like go on dates and ki--”

“I _know_ what you two meant! I’m not that dumb!”

“Then...that answer wasn’t very helpful,” Tenma said. 

“How am I supposed to know what to say? You guys haven’t given me any time to think - and I do think!” Taichi frowned as Yuki raised his brows. “I...Ten-chan, you’re so popular you could be dating any star secretly and I thought you had a thing for Director Teach, and Yuki, I thought you...were above that kind of thing. Like you weren’t interested in it at all.” His stomach was gurgling again, totally ruining the mood. “If you put yourself in my shoes, I haven’t even considered this as a possibility, so you can understand why I don’t know what to say!”

Tenma and Yuki had another wordless exchange, before they both let him go simultaneously as if having agreed to an unspoken truce. “Alright,” Tenma said, although his cheeks were still a little red. “I guess it makes sense to need a little time to figure out who to respond to. It’s a big decision, after all.”

“Oh, really...you haven’t been influenced by that yakuza and that mini-me he raised...probably thinking that a couple needs to at least give it three years before deciding whether they are a proper match or not…”

“That’s not what I was thinking!”

“Well, please excuse me!” Taichi said, taking effort not to shout from the adrenaline and failing completely. “I totally have to go!” Sprinting back to the dorms, he spared Omi a moment of greeting and exclamation of joy at the mini steamed buns as a snack before hearing the front door open again and hurrying back to his room. It was his luck that the rooms were more or less carefully separated by troupe, so if he was careful, he would only need to see Tenma and Yuki during mealtimes. It would be disappointing if he couldn’t hang out with the others in the common room, but he needed some time to compose his thoughts. 

But after days of sneaking around, avoiding walking to and from school with Tenma whenever he could attend and making excuses to skip working on costumes, Taichi concluded he was at a standstill. Summer Troupe was always very high energy, but it seemed that two members on edge was affecting the rest of the mood. It seemed clear he needed a second opinion, considering his own was running in circles. 

He could start within his own Troupe. Juza, Sakyo, and Azami were out; Juza was cool, but he did not have much experience with girls as a regular fighter and sweets chaser. Sakyo and Azami would give the same, archaic advice of soul-searching and long courtships. It was a little embarrassing to talk to Omi; after all, Omi was very understanding and non-judgmental, but it had an eerie feeling similar to talking to his own mother about the whole thing (which he wouldn’t - she would gush and demand to know whose hearts he had captured and that was just cringe). He started with Banri. “Hah? What are you complaining about? I thought being confessed to and getting a partner was your dream. And two? I’m surprised you haven’t transcended from being so fulfilled.”

“Yeah, it’s every guy’s dream! But...you’re cool, I’m sure you’ve had a ton of confessions. How do you respond to them? Like how can you pick one?”

“You can only date one person. Well, I guess you could date many if everyone was okay with it. Hey! You’re trying to double dip when you haven’t even had a single girlfriend? You’re bold, I’ll give you that.”

Banri, with no shortage of people admiring him, was somehow no help. He walked away with a smirk on his face, and even though Taichi didn’t say any names, he had a feeling he was going away to laugh about it with someone else. Omi was on the phone in their room with his father, so he snuck around the dining room through the foyer and outside and summoned Kazunari to meet in the park. Discussing this sensitive topic with a Summer Troupe member was dangerous, but Kazunari had a lot of friends and could probably relate. “Whaaat! OMG, like, grats! Two confessions! You’re on top of your game, Taicchan!”

“Thanks!” It was easy to get carried away talking to Kazunari. He tried to get back to business. “Well...the thing is, I wish it was easy to respond. What do I say? I like both of them, so it’s like asking to pick between going to the arcade after school or going to the skatepark after school. I want both!”

“Hmm...it’s the modern age so you could def date both and see who you want to choose in the end! It’s not like you’re getting married!”

“I don’t want to hurt the other person though. Even if I didn’t make the decision now, it seems like it’ll come up again later and then I won’t want to choose even more.”

Kazunari was positively beaming with excited energy. “Oh my god, this is so dope! Taicchan, no matter who you choose you are going to be so good to them and the other person has to understand that you’re still thinking of them! Ah! Like, Mukkun would die, for real! You got to spill; who are these people who’ve caught feels?”

“Ah--well, one of them I’ve...known for a long time, and I really want to show them that despite all that I’m totally worthy of them liking me as much as I like them and--the other person’s a little clumsy sometimes but they’re still really eye-catching and I can’t help but look for them in a crowd and I’m a little jealous of them but I want them to also be conscious of me so…”

Bringing a hand up to his forehead in exaggerated emotion, Kazunari swooned. “Oh, I totally get it now. You’ve caught feels too! Now I need to know more...how did you meet them? What do they look like? Are you all talking now that they’ve confessed? You’ve got to say.” At Taichi’s hesitation, Kazunari puffed his cheeks. “Oh, come on. It’s not like I know them!”

“Ah…”

“Or...do I?” As his eyes widened, so did Taichi’s, and Taichi began flailing, flapping his arms about.

“No, no, you’re right, you don’t know them--but, still, it would be total invasion of privacy or something if I said anything, right? Hah, well, anyway, I don’t know what I should do, I don’t want to ruin things, since...since they know each other and they’ll know if I say yes to one of them and not the other but in the first place, I don’t even know how to choose, so…!” Kazunari, mercifully, dropped the topic of potentially knowing the confessors, but even as they tossed the issue back and forth, it became clear that it was a choice that Taichi would just need to make. Surely flipping a coin was too flippant of a way to solve things, although he’d heard that having that clear decision was the best way to reveal his ideal outcome. Still, the repercussions felt so serious he thought it best to ask Omi’s opinion after all.

“Omi-kun, I need your help,” Taichi announced, bursting into the room. Omi had finished his call and was now fiddling with his phone. 

“Ah, the man of the hour,” Omi said. When Taichi blinked at him, he held up his phone. “Kazunari just sent a group chat to everyone in the dorm except you, Yuki, and Tenma saying that they had confessed to you or something?” Presently, there were replies upon replies, still popping up even as Omi let Taichi survey the damage. Kazunari had included in his original text that this was a piece of gossip meant to stay private, but it was useless considering that everyone except the subjects of the gossip now knew. 

“I’m so screwed,” Taichi moaned. 

Dinner was a tense affair; although the three of them had been left out of the chat, it was obvious by the way Yuki and Tenma were glowering that word had gotten out to them. Taichi tried to stare only at the curry in front of him. Tsumugi attempting to steer conversation away from any talk about romance only made it worse. This was all his fault and now he had ruined the first and only confessions he had as a hot-blooded teenage boy. 

After dinner, ignoring the snickers from Banri and Muku’s glittering eyes, Taichi walked himself up to Tenma and Yuki’s door. This door had always sort of filled him with dread, knowing he’d be spending hours hand sewing the more delicate details that Yuki did not want to risk with his machine, but today, it was the biggest challenge of his whole life. But an actor and a man did not shy away from challenges. Hoping to have enough of his body left to send to his family for a proper burial, he knocked on the door. 

There was a matching acknowledgement and invitation to enter, so he did. Yuki was sitting and cutting a pool of fabric around him and Tenma was on the other side of the room on his computer. They rarely had long conversations when Taichi was working on costumes, so he suspected the room had been completely quiet before he entered. Feeling the weight of his actions, he dropped to his knees right in front of the door. 

“I’m sorry! It was totally my fault. I...I only ask for mercy! Just mercy!”

Squeezing his eyes shut with his forehead against the ground, Taichi imagined Tenma grabbing one of his free weights and chucking at his head, knocking his brains out. Or - Yuki was gathering his strongest fabric to choke the air out of his lungs. Either felt like a merciful killing. After a long silence, he heard Tenma sigh. 

“I mean...it was to be expected, considering who we live with.”

“You just had to go and consult everyone, huh.” 

“But…!” Looking up, Taichi saw Yuki and Tenma still looking at him, though with less heat and edge as he had expected. “I wanted to be able to give you an answer that everyone would be happy with. But I still don’t know if I’ve come up with it.” 

“Just get it over with. After all, everyone knows he’s the kid you’ve been obsessed over since you were babies, so I kind of expected it.”

“Oh, we’re self deprecating now, you fraud? You spend way more time with him and he didn’t join that elite acting troupe because he considers acting to be some casual hobby. You’re one of his north stars, aren’t you?”

“Stop! I mean, I’m so flattered you guys are fighting over me, like…I’m pinching myself, for real, but...I don’t have a decision. I haven’t got a pick. So...maybe...I was thinking...could I have...both?”

There was another long silence. “Well, that’s not what I expected.”

“As usual, a dog can’t decide whether he wants pets or a walk. So typical.”

They had both stood up, and Taichi suddenly felt vulnerable being the only one still kneeling on the floor. “Ah, but-I know you two don’t...er, you two tend to-to disagree about things, so perhaps this is just my selfish wish. Rather, it’s best to do with me what you want, as this newfound popularity is getting to my head! I deserve to be hit! But please at least leave me intact so my siblings don’t cry when I get sent back home--” He was now in their shadow, but instead of the two of them bearing down on him with blows, Tenma settled down in front of him and Yuki crossed over behind him. 

“We argue,” Tenma said, “but there are times that compromises can be made.” 

“We’re not so inflexible that a little bit of fighting is a dealbreaker.” Taichi felt a pair of arms wrap around his neck, but it wasn’t a chokehold to hold him down while Tenma beat the stuffing out of him. Yuki was now closer than ever, the back of Taichi’s head against his chest and Taichi could smell Yuki’s shampoo, which he had caught whiffs of before like a passing breeze when they bent over on the same outfit. Just as he was savoring the feeling of Yuki’s arms against his collarbone, Tenma was leaning forward and kissing - _kissing_ , wow, and it wasn’t a casual stage direction either - him. Taichi’s head was spinning as Tenma pulled away, feeling a hand brush against his, and then Yuki had turned his chin and was kissing him too, less practiced than Tenma but still earnest and soft. 

“Wow,” Taichi said, breathless. “Just...wow. So you guys aren’t going to destroy me?”

The ability of roommates to coordinate was turning out to be rather disadvantageous. “We didn’t say that,” Tenma said, and they descended upon him.

**Author's Note:**

> Taichi deserves EVERYTHING his little heart desires. Last Runway slaughtered me, but also the scene at the end of the O-High school festival event where Tenma and Taichi share a dance did too. I headcanon Tenma and Yuki as platonic friends only but I think they would make exceptions to make Taichi happy. LET HIM HAVE THIS.


End file.
